Gov. Nikki Haley: Romney Can Still Win Women Voters

TAMPA, Florida — It would be easy to look at the gender gap between President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney, and conclude the Republican has little chance of gaining more support among women.

After all, a Gallup poll released days ago shows that Obama's lead over Romney among women is 8 percentage points — a sizable gap that remains the same as it did four months ago.

But on the eve of the Republican convention in Tampa, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Sunday she believes Romney still has a chance to swing women to his side.

"The more women find out about Governor Romney, the more women are going to get on board with Governor Romney," she told Patch on Sunday.

"Once they see Ann and Mitt Romney for the family that they are, for the leaders that they are, what their vision is for this country, they're going to be on board."

And while the November election is just 10 weeks away, Haley isn't concerned that more women haven't come around to Romney.

"Woman take their time to make decisions, and we're going to give them that time to do that," she said. "I have great faith in the fact that women will make a good decision, and I believe that's going to be with Mitt Romney."

Democrats have taken the Republicans to task for the so-called "war on women," and targeted the GOP's position on contraception, abortion and other social issues.

But Haley, , describes the focus on such social issues as a "distraction."

"Women care about everything. The care about jobs, they care about the economy, they care about health care, they care about their families," she said.

"That's what this presidential race is going to mean for women. It's the entire package and how is this going to affect my family, and how is it going to affect our future going forward," Haley said. "And when they see that, I'm firmly convinced they will go with Mitt and Ann Romney.

"I think the Democrats are doing what they do well, that is to distract," she said. "The more they can distract from President Obama's record, the less anybody will realize what a failure his administration has been... I think women and men are much smarter than that. It's not going to work."